I used to blog for CafeMom about pregnancy, so I wrote a lot about finding out the sex and how the gender news makes moms feel. I took the news kind of hard when we were expecting our first baby — I wanted a girl, and we found out (very early on) we were having a boy. I have to admit, at first, I was disappointed.

Right after the doctor’s appointment when we found out, we went to look at baby clothes and to fantasize about what lay ahead. We went to Old Navy. Tragic mistake. Their boys’ clothes are a little cuter now (five years later), but at the time it was all miniature football jerseys and dark brown shirts. The idea that shopping for baby clothes would be waaayy less fun with a boy than with a girl only added to my slight gloom about the gender. (Needless to say, I got over the boy thing completely and of course adore our son.)

But the clothes were an issue. Here’s how we overcame it: The secret is to “buy European.”

You have to search out some of these brands, but the ones we loved (and still love — FYI, we lean heavily French here) are: